Hasan Piker Sues Scott Jennings for $72.5 Million Over Edited Stream

Hasan Piker filed a $72.5 million defamation suit against Scott Jennings in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The complaint seeks $27.5 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages. Piker claims Jennings aired a doctored video that made him look like a supporter of lynching Black people.

The dispute traces back to an episode of “The Scott Jennings Show” on Aug. 11. Jennings played footage from a 2024 Piker livestream. He described Piker as a “radical socialist streamer” and a close friend of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Jennings said Piker had been “calling for Black voters to be lynched.”

Piker’s legal team states that the video combined clips from three separate Twitch streams. They argue the sequence of remarks was rearranged to change the meaning. The complaint says Piker was making sarcastic comments about returning to a time when lynchings were common. However, the edit removed the context of an Oct. 29, 2024, YouTube debate between two Black political commentators that Piker was reacting to.

The complaint asserts that Piker was mocking a conservative commentator’s statement. It says Piker never advocated for lynchings or proposed a plan to return to them. Jennings has not yet issued a substantive response to a written retraction demand sent by Piker’s lawyers in August. Jennings’ post with the video remains on X, where it has received three million views as of Wednesday.

Piker’s attorneys also noted that Jennings was under consideration for the role of White House Press Secretary during the weeks the video circulated. They described this as a professional and political incentive to smear Piker. Jennings, who also appears on CNN, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Piker is a social media figure with more than 3.1 million Twitch followers and 2 million YouTube subscribers. He has campaigned for several Democratic candidates and remains a controversial figure within the party. Several Jewish organizations have accused him of promoting antisemitic tropes and downplaying the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The case will proceed in federal court in Washington, D.C. Piker’s team filed the 38-page complaint to seek a retraction and financial damages. Jennings’ team acknowledged receiving the retraction demand but has not published a response.